Over 50 women were detained under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Tuesday as they protested outside the Supreme Court in New Delhi against the clean chit given to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi by an in-house panel investigating sexual harassment allegations against him. Multiple women said on Twitter that they were detained and taken in a police van to the Mandir Marg police station despite the protest being a peaceful one. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973 empowers a magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than four people in an area. This is usually imposed in an area when violence and rioting is anticipated. Reports said the women were mostly lawyers and activists who were protesting against the manner in which the investigation was carried out in the case.

Source: Huffington Post May 07, 2019 08:03 UTC